Back to Painting? For How Long?

I'm one of those people who can't wait to get their hands on a new, or in this case old, hobby...  Start doing it... buy the necessary materials (props)... only to leave it again for a new hobby...  ^_^  Also, a jack of all trades, and, unfortunately master of none...  And here I go again!  I'm back to painting after, ummm... 10 years!?

I use watercolor and love how very flexible and easy it is to use!  I started with painting Japanese Anime Characters and never attempted to do serious painting.  And it was all for the love of art!  I'm a copy artist and I never draw/paint without a copy...  I have to say, I'm very good at it (copying).  I can get the proportions, color, etc. down to the last detail, or at least I try.  I remember those good old days when I didn't have a paper that's big enough for what I wanted to do so I tape four 8.5" x 11" sheets together!  I taped them at the back, end to end and they look like 1 big poster paper!  That's how desperate I was and needed to paint right away and didn't bother going to a bookstore to buy a cartolina.  I transform text cards of anime characters to posters!  For those of you who don't know what a "text card" is, it's like the Magic the Gathering cards only smaller... around 2" x 1" and has the characteristics of trump cards (power, speed, etc.) and you can flip 2 of them in the air and play against your friends.  ^_^

Here's how some of them would look like:

Dragon Ball

 

Sailormoon

  Yuyu Hakusho (Ghost Fighter)

Going back to painting, yes, I'm back to painting and here's the result...

 First, the sketch.  I'm also into poem writing so I wrote a poem dedicated to my husband.  ^_^  It's entitled "Left Hand Ring".  I tried drawing my hands... I'm not really a 3D artist nor have I tried still life, because I know I'm not good at it.  But I decided I should try...  ^_^

Here it is, nearing completion.  I painted flesh over those green paint that got inside the hand border.  I also made an error when I wrote the poem in ink...  I accidentally transposed 2 words.  The last line should have been written as "And they'll never be empty again."  This is in reference to my favorite novel, Little Women (by Louisa May Alcott) where Jo (a girl) got proposed to by Prof. Baehr under the rain and he said he has nothing to offer but his empty hands.  Jo put her hands in them and said, "Not empty now."  So romantic!

For anyone who's interested, here's how the whole poem goes...

*  I usually follow strict measure and rhyme pattern when I make poems but I found it hard to stick to one when I was making this.  A bit rusty, I guess.

Left Hand Ring

When the band stopped playing

And the music faded to nothing

I stopped to look at my empty hands

Nothing special, nothing new, nothing grand

As other continued living

My hands wouldn't stop trembling

Thinking about the days I've had

Nothing significant, unique, or fab

But the light showed me something

Reflecting from my left hand ring

Reminding me of the joys at hand

Something different, special and grand

A change has taken place

And not a minute sooner

As I look forward to the days

We spend fun times together

As my hands start to fold

You put yours in them

Now my hands are never cold

And they'll never be empty again.

- by Anne in Red

My husband seemed to like it and we posted it on our dining room wall.  ^_^  The painting might not be perfect and the poem might need a little polishing, not to mention, I might grow tired of painting again and lay my brushes untouched after another 10 years. But the message, the thought and the emotion behind this work is perfect.  A perfect love that will never fade.  Unconditional and true.  That's the love I have for my Mario!

Happy loving everyone!

from Anne in Red.

How I Avoid being Roasted Under the Summer Sun

Summer has begun and so has our battle against the scorching sun.  It's all the girls (and guys) against an invisible enemy called UVB light (Ultraviolet B light).  I can explain all the dangers of prolonged exposure to UVB light but I think it's best to direct you to another site for a more thorough explanation (and save you from reading boredom).  Click here for more information on UV light.

Personally, I've started being conscious about UV light and being exposed to it when I was terminated from my Mon-Fri 3 and 1/2 years of forever night shift job.  I rarely saw the sun while working that shift, except for weekends, but even on weekends, I'm really a night person. We go to the mall when it's almost closing time and catch the last full show (movie) all the time.  ^_^  So, I never really cared to find out how to protect myself from UV light.  But now's a different story.  Even if it's not summer time, you can feel the sun burning your skin.  It's irritating, it's really hot and sometimes itchy.  I end up having, not only rosy cheeks but also rosy arms, neck, etc!  I don't know where you live but that's still not pretty for anyone anywhere!  And I'm a Filipina.  I have naturally brown skin, and never need a tan and don't want it.  I also read from somewhere that exposing your skin to UV rays for long periods would speed up skin aging.  I don't want to try to prove or disprove that so prevention is always better and it won't hurt anyone.  I'll give you the 3 items that I use everyday before going out at day time.

SPF, you see that in a lot of beauty products these days and there's a good reason for it.  It's good for your skin!  SPF (Sun Protection Factor) tells how long you may stay under the sun without burning from UVB light.

Example:
  Given:  
     a)  10 minutes:  how long you can stay under the sun before it burns
                   *  This figure is for example purposes only.  This differs from 1 person to another.  Light skinned folks have shorter safe exposure times than darker skinned folks.  This is the general rule.)
     b)  SPF 15 sunblock applied to skin

   Find:
      How long can I stay under the sun without burning my skin with the help of an SPF 15 sunblock?

   Computation:
       10 minutes X SPF 15 =  150

    Answer:
        150 minutes sun exposure before your skin burns with the help of an SPF 15 sunblock.

*  In simplest terms, it really is quite literally the factor of how much your safe sun exposure time is raised.  In the sample equation, the safe sun exposure time was raised by a factor of 15.

Now that we got that down, needless to say, the higher the SPF number is, the better.  SPF rate goes to as high as 200.  The most that a skin protection product has (as far as I've seen) is SPF 50.  Without further ado, here are my battle armors:

Hawaiian Tropic Baby Faces Sunblock.  Of course!  With SPF 50!  Bought at SM Hypermart (Sucat) for the price of 366.75Php.  I chose this over the other sunblocks because it's gentle enough for babies, has less chemicals (according to the label), pediatrician tested and waterproof (or what I call "sweatproof" ^_^).

BB Cream from Elianto (Mall of Asia).  This replaced my foundation and moisturizer.  If I'm not going out, I use a moisturizer without any SPF because it's cheaper.  But if I go out, I use this as my moisturizer and foundation.  If you don't have oily skin, you won't have to put powder on top of it but I have oily skin and need a light coat of powder.  I forgot how much I bought this for but it's well over 300Php.

Burt's Bees Lip Balm (weatherproofing for SUN and SNOW) bought from Beauty Bar (Mall of Asia).  My former officemate gave me one of these as a gift and I got hooked!  It's really a good product and it has many different variants for different needs but they're all priced the same, 325Php.  This, in particular, is good for extreme weather.  It's white when applied (not opaque but a little translucent white) so put a neutral lip color on top but leave it alone if you're not going out.  Apply as necessary.  It has a minty flavor.

I'm sure most of your initial reactions are violent... towards the price.  Well, these are just one of the many things you can do to protect your skin against harmful UV rays.  I'm sure there are other more natural and less expensive methods out there but these 3 work for me.  In the end, I hope this article served as a reminder that the ozone layer is thinning, more harmful UV rays are penetrating our atmosphere and our climate (all over the world) is changing...  There are extremes of everything - heat, snow, wind, etc.  Start protecting yourself now, while your skin is still in a more healthy condition, rather than wait for something to happen to it that may require medical attention.

Just a friendly reminder from Anne in Red.

I am a RED person!

Hi!  I decided to explain the name of the blog for my first post.  I hope you won't get bored because it will all be about me.  ^_^ <--this is my favorite smiling face, by the way...

When it all started...
Red has been my favorite color ever since I was a child.  I remember claiming it as such when I was watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (TMNT) back in the 80's!  One of my favorite Western Animation of all time and my favorite among the 4 (you might be able to guess) is Raphael!  He's so cool, labeled "the bad boy" of all TMTN, gets angry easily yet cares deeply for his brothers and their sensei although he tries hard not to show them.  ^_^

* Raphael - Red Bandana

I am very RED...

There are many characteristics that make the color red such a perfect word to describe me.

Self-contradicting

- War and Love
This is how red first shows its contradicting nature.  While it's used to symbolize war because it is a bold and very warm color, it is also used to symbolize love and usually paints the valentine hearts.

  *  The Philippines' very own flag is turned red-side-up when we're at war.  Although I haven't seen it raised that way and I'm glad if it stays that way forever.  ^_^

- Anger and Passion/Affection
Red is also the color of anger (especially when writing letters).  Your ears and face turn red when you're burning with anger.  Coincidentally, your face turns red too, when you blush after being complimented by your crush.  ^_^  It shows your burning passion.

*  If you've never seen a boy blush, well, here's how it would look (bottom: Tomoya Okazaki from "Clannad")  I don't know who the baby boy (top) is, but he's cute ^_^.

Red is one of the colors that contradict itself in many different aspects...

Anne also continues to contradict herself everyday!  She is confident, unique, bold and opinionated yet she's also shy, stereotypical and open-minded.  I like dressing up even if it's just an ordinary trip to the mall.  It's up to that level that people may think I'm cosplaying (costume play).  When I go out sometimes, I assume a role, weather it's a Gothic girl, punk, anime, sporty, New Yorker, etc. and dress the part.  But on some days, when I dress down, I really dress down to lose pants, a pair of sneakers and lose shirt.  I can start a conversation, or stay quiet depending on a lot of different factors.  I'm a joker and an entertainer in a group, yet sometimes I struggle to find the right words to say without being really awkward.

Attention catcher

Red catches everyone's attention (except if you're color blind).  If you want your car to be noticed from miles away, paint it red like Ferrari cars...  If you want to be noticed in a crowd, wear a statement red dress or really loud red t-shirt.

Anne also catches the attention of many people (strangers, friends and relatives alike).  ^_^  Well, one of the times when I command attention, whether I like it or not (or if it's good attention or not) is when I go out all dressed up and also when I speak.  I'm really loud and talkative at any good gathering time or even alone with my husband.  He sometimes gets annoyed but if there's a very successful ice breaker invented, it should be named after me!  ^_^

Red means Celebration or Happiness!

Here's my very red wedding gown.  Worn on one of the happiest days of my life marking a beginning of a wonderful part of my life journey.

Red for birthdays and other celebratory events which means you're happy that day!  This is also very prominent in the Chinese culture where red signifies prosperity, success and happiness.

Anne is a very happy person.  While I'm certainly not rich, in the context of worldly possessions, I certainly am rich in knowledge, wisdom, love, confidence and contentment.  I don't need to be as old as a tortoise to be wise, or be a scholar to be considered knowledgeable, or be a public speaker (although I love talking in front of a crowd) to be considered confident and certainly I don't have to be rich to be contented with who I am, what I have, who I'm with and what I'm doing!  ^_^  I love life and everything I stumble on in my own life journey.  That's where my riches come from and I'm happy to share it with everyone!

Why "Anne in RED"?
While there are most certainly many other reasons why I like red, but the main reason why my blog is called "Anne in Red" is because red, being a bold color, represents the Anne that is not afraid to voice out her own opinions.  I've been really avoiding personal blogs or blogs that tackle anything under the sun because I am always careful on stepping on other people's toes.  But not anymore.  This blog is my "coming out blog".  Coming out of my safe zone, a blog about my opinion on anything and everything.  Whether people like it or not, that's how I feel about that particular topic, whatever it may be.

Phew!  Such a long post just to explain a blog name...  ^_^  Thank you for reading on 'till the end (for those who did) and for those who skipped some parts, thank you too!  I'll have more interesting articles coming up!  Be sure to check on this every now and then!